Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 553: Kids Nowadays are So Unethical! (part 1)

Replacing the black umbrella within the life mist was a sundial life lamp, which glittered radiantly. Though the dial plate was jade, the ball of light made it seem like it was made of crystal, resplendent and dazzling. To Xu Qing, it seemed to be formed from a similar material to the violet crystal. In fact, the sundial was like an extension of the violet crystal. Lending weight to that observation was that both the shadow and the god’s finger sleeping in his D-132 heavenly palace were trembling.

What was more, the violet crystal seemed to have changed with the addition of the sundial, although Xu Qing wasn’t certain of exactly how. However, he did know that the gnomon which grew out of the sundial like a bone spur pulsed with fluctuations that were unique to himself. It was formed from his own blood!

At first glance, the gnomon looked like a needle. But close examination would reveal that there was something carved on its tip. By zooming in very closely onto that spot, it was possible to see an ordinary-looking violet-colored chair.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. As for the ball of light that rotated around the gnomon, it resembled a sun, and it cast a shadow of the gnomon onto the dial plate. Meanwhile, the complicated designs on the dial plate were not only clearly visible; they were in constant motion.

Xu Qing was reeling mentally. He actually had no idea why the life lamp he had made would look like this. It seemed to have something to do with the violet crystal.

Is it because the violet crystal has fused with my blood? And then there’s that aura....

As the shadow moved around Xu Qing’s life lamp, it emanated an aura that was similar to a timescape bottle.

It was the aura of time! However, that time wasn’t in sync with the time of the outside world.

It caused a sense of boundless majesty to rise in Xu Qing, causing his sea of consciousness to seethe. It affected his fleshly body as well; he started trembling. Furthermore, it affected the outside world, spreading into the 3,000-meter vortex, cutting it off from the surroundings, and forcing the time within the vortex to sync with Xu Qing.

As a result, everything beyond that 3,000-meter area seemed like a different world, and the border between them was a mass of rippling undulations.

When a new life lamp was created and made contact with the magical laws of the Revered Ancient mainland, it led to supernatural phenomena. Each life lamp was different, so the supernatural phenomena would also be different. Regardless, such phenomena were indications of the approval of Revered Ancient. Few people know about this, mostly because from ancient times until modern, very few people had been present to witness such things.

Within that 3,000-meter area, Xu Qing sat cross-legged, his entire person shining with violet light and a mysterious will. Meanwhile, his heart was pounding so hard it was hard to remain calm.

Looking at the sundial that had formed in his sea of consciousness, he stopped thinking about whether the life lamp really was a fusion of the violet crystal and his blood, and instead focused on how he now seemed to have the same origin as the life lamp. This was, without any shadow of a doubt, his life lamp.

It felt completely different from any of the other lamps he had acquired. Though he had integrated the other life lamps into himself, in the final analysis, they were not connected to his blood. As far as Xu Qing was concerned, they were essentially dead. Therefore, he could use them and borrow their power, but they weren’t truly his.

That was why, to the cultivators of Revered Ancient, though life lamps were definitely precious treasures, they were only useful for cultivation levels beneath Spirit Trove. After Spirit Trove, they became useless, and you actually needed to get rid of them to avoid the negative effects of karma. That was the experience of all cultivators who used life lamps made with the blood of other cultivators.

But starting now, Xu Qing was different. Because this life lamp had been made with his own blood, it could be used like an enormous furnace in Spirit Trove, and would allow him to create a foundation similar to the Imperial Sovereigns.

By entering Spirit Trove with that furnace, he could refine anything to put into his secret trove, thus strengthening that secret trove and putting him on the path to great strength.

It was an advantage that, normally speaking, only the descendants of Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns could benefit from. In fact, Xu Qing had pushed it a bit further. He wasn’t benefiting the way that such descendants did. He was creating his own good fortune. Because of that, he would have to figure out what other mysterious abilities his new life lamp had.

For now, all he could sense was that the powers of his life lamp were related to time. In terms of how strong it was, he would have to do some tests to find out. Based on what he was feeling, his new life lamp was roughly as strong as his other life lamps. It wasn’t a situation of suddenly having immense strength and being able to crush all enemies regardless of their cultivation base.

That left Xu Qing feeling slightly disappointed. That said, it was a bit unrealistic to expect such dramatic benefits.

The biggest difference between a personal life lamp and a life lamp belonging to someone else is the difference between life and death. The life lamps of others are dead as far as I’m concerned. There’s no long-term potential for them. They’re basically on loan. However, my personal life lamp is linked to my own life force. It contains unbounded potential, and it can grow with me. As for its powers of time, I bet they come from the violet crystal.

In any case, Xu Qing knew that now wasn’t the best time to experiment with the new lamp. After all, the gigantic vortex was bound to draw attention eventually.

Around then, Ling’er urgently said, “Run, Big Bro Xu Qing! Bad guys are coming! A lot of bad guys!”

She sounded anxious. Though his heavenly dao had been sending him urgent warnings, they hadn’t changed much in recent days. It went to show that Ling’er’s senses were very refined.

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing settled his thoughts, sank down into the lava, and sped away. He also put away the red crystals that had formed on the life lamp. This time, quite a large group of crystals had formed, more than twenty.

About six hours after he left, the 3,000-meter vortex gradually faded into nothing. Not long after that, a group of Mirrorling cultivators flew toward that spot. When they arrived, the vortex was already gone. However, there were traces of its power remaining, and as the Mirrorling cultivators neared, they cried out in shock.

“Something’s strange about this spot!” one of them shouted. Then he backed up at top speed. As he did, his parasitized body began withering rapidly. It wasn’t a case of its life force being taken away, but rather, its life being run in reverse. His face fell.

The other Mirrorling cultivators all gasped in shock.

“Either there’s some powerful expert here, or there’s some mysterious magical treasure beneath the Heavenfire Sea here that’s connected to time itself. This is a big deal!”

“Based on the reaction from the geomantic compass, more than twenty high-grade heavenfire crystals just appeared now. That’s enough... to cause a war!”

The group exchanged glances that combined fear with greed.

“The royal preceptor is on the way. Let’s see what we can find out before he gets here!”

“Notify all Mirrorlings in the area to join us!”

The Mirrorlings started sending voice messages while simultaneously searching the area. Before long, a lot of Mirrorling cultivators had gathered.

Not far off, there were cultivators from other species whose geomantic compasses had brought them in this direction. Some were on their own, others were in groups. And a rather large group of Skyfaces were approaching from one area. For 5,000 kilometers in all directions, hordes of cultivators were on the move, making what seemed like a gigantic vortex.

Meanwhile, the warning from Xu Qing’s heavenly dao was getting more intense.

Ling’er, her voice trembling, said, “Big Bro Xu Qing, there are too many people coming! And I can sense two really powerful auras on the way!”

Xu Qing frowned. He had originally assumed the vortex that formed when making his life lamp had been attracting attention. But that didn’t explain the repeated warnings from his heavenly dao.

Don’t tell me it’s because of those red crystals?

All of a sudden, he stopped in place and shoved his hand upward through the lava. As he did that, a massive force weighed down from above. It turned into a giant mask that sank into the lava and slammed into Xu Qing’s hand. In an area of about 300 meters, all of the lava sank down by almost ten meters. As sparks exploded everywhere, Xu Qing was revealed.

Thanks to the attack from above, the pressure of the sea of flames became like a balloon on the verge of popping.

Xu Qing shot up into the air just as the lava below him exploded in something like a flower of sparks. As the sparks fell like rain, Xu Qing looked up to see who had attacked him. It was a Skyface cultivator, fully 21 meters tall, pulsing with formidable might. He wore a golden suit of armor that reflected the light of the fire and made him glitter blindingly. His cultivation base was also extraordinary. He had seven nascent souls, which took the form of seven huge masks that circled around him, their eyes closed. He appeared to have passed two nascent soul tribulations, and wasn’t far from his third. He was one of the people who had just attacked Xu Qing.

“So, you’ve been sneaking around in the lava. You thought you could evade notice that way, you filthy human?”

The Skyface cultivator looked coldly at Xu Qing, the many complex designs on his mask flowing and writhing to make two vortexes, one on top of each other like an eye.

That eye had unusual powers, and it was how he had been able to spot Xu Qing underneath the lava.

“The Mirrorlings are locking down this area. Don’t tell me they’re looking for you?” The Skyface cultivator started walking toward Xu Qing. “The logical conclusion is that you must have all those heavenfire crystals. I only want five. Give them to me, and I’ll pretend I never saw you. Think about it, but don’t take too long. There are a lot of cultivators searching this area.”

Given the surroundings, any cultivator who didn’t have a very high cultivation base would definitely pause for thought upon hearing those words. And that was why the Skyface immediately burst into motion after he finished speaking.

He moved with shocking speed right toward Xu Qing.

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